Interdisciplinarity is in the DNA of the iSchools. This workshop invites you to discuss how inter-disciplinarity plays out in theory and practice. The workshop addresses the uniqueness of the iSchools, provides an interactive framework to discuss and reflect on interdisciplinary practice. It suggests some models and tools to describe relations between disciplines, while offering a venue to brainstorm and envision issues of interest with like-minded colleagues. The purpose of this workshop is to establish a setting for continuous dialogue among colleagues on how interdisciplinarity plays out in practice. The workshop aims to create a forum for reflection on local inter-disciplinary practice(s) and to consider the possibilities of forming research networks. The workshop opens with a panel presentation from iSchool deans and senior faculty discussing current interdisciplinarity practices in iSchools and with presentations that address theoretical frameworks of interdisciplinarity. These presentations will form the basis for small group discussions in the afternoon.

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This paper examines the influence of European integration on the relationship between state administration and private interests in the four Nordic countries – Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. By private interests I mean interest organizations, private corporations and independent experts. The paper focuses exclusively on the national policy processes that are involved with managing European Union (EU) issues. More specifically, this paper discusses two aspects of multi-level governance. First is the important role of private interests in the coordination of decision making at the national level preceding their government’s representation of national interests in the European Council of Ministers and other EU organizations. Second is the effect of all this on national democratic systems.

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This dissertation explores the internal antecedents of the phenomenon labeled management innovation. Management innovation refers to the implementation of new management practices, processes, techniques or structures that alter the way the work of management is performed. In other words, management innovation refers to changes in what managers do and how they do it.

Management innovation is the introduction of new management practices that significantly alter the way
the work of management is performed. Building on behavioral theory of the firm, this paper explores the
effect of firms’ diagnostic capability and implementation capability on the likelihood of adopting new‐to‐thefirm
and new‐to‐the‐industry management innovations. The paper finds that formalized activities directed at
developing and implementing management innovations as well as CEO novelty increases the likelihood of
innovating in both categories. Also, top management team (TMT) diversity increases the likelihood of
adopting new‐to‐the‐industry innovations. The paper does not find a direct effect of performance decline on
the likelihood of implementing management innovation, but two variables, TMT diversity and previous
experience, positively moderate the relationship between performance decline and new‐to‐the‐industry
management innovation.

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a study of how organisational identity influences the strategy-making process

Kjærgaard, Annemette(København, 2004)

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Abstract:

Organisations have to deal with increasingly complex and turbulent environments, which demand that they continuously change and adapt to new circumstances or challenges. One way for organisations to cope with these challenges is to manage the strategy-making process in order to ensure that a continuous stream of new ideas and initiatives create new opportunities and ensure that the company stays viable by adapting to new internal and external challenges. This has been pursued in studies of strategy formation (Mintzberg, 1978), strategic change (Pettigrew, 1988) and internal corporate venturing (Burgelman, 1983b, 2002) and is still a central issue in the strategic management discourse.
It is generally acknowledged that continuous change is important for organisations’ survival in a changing world. On the other hand the need for stability and continuity in form of a clear and strong corporate identity is also acknowledged to be critical for organisational success (Collins & Porras, 1994). Where the organisational identity works to ensure consistency in the company’s strategic action, the strategy making process works to renew the current concept of strategy (Burgelman, 1983b). Organisations thus face a dilemma when they engage in strategy-making to reconcile the perpetual tension between continuity and change (Burgelman, 2002). This challenge is far from new and has been discussed as e.g. the balance between exploration and exploitation (March, 1991).
This article attempts to answer the question of how organisational actors’ perception of organisational identity influences the strategy-making process during organisational change. The study adopts an evolutionary approach to the unfolding of the strategy-making process, using the variation-selection-retention framework of cultural evolutionary theory (Aldrich, 1999; Campbell, 1969; Weick, 1979), which has been applied to the strategy-making process by Burgelman in several of his works (Burgelman, 1983a, 1983b, 1991, 2002, 2003).

This paper adopts a behavioral theory of the firm perspective in order to compare the antecedents of two
types of innovation: Management innovation refers to the adoption of new management practices or
organizational structures, whereas product innovation refers to the introduction of new products or
services on the market. The study further distinguishes between two categories of innovation within each
type: new to the firm and new to the industry innovations. The findings indicate that there are more
differences than similarities between the antecedents of the two types of innovation. However, adopting
either type of innovation increases the likelihood of simultaneously adopting the other.

The thesis revolves around the internationalization of Vietnamese firms - that is, how the
international competitiveness of these firms is enhanced in terms of both upstream and
downstream value chain activities and the export performance implications hereof. For
Vietnamese firms, as well as for other firms from emerging markets, internationalization
trajectories may differ considerably from the internationalization patterns portrayed in classical
theories (such as the Uppsala Model) based on observations of the internationalization of firms
from Western, developed market economies. Classical theories have primarily focused on firms’
marketing & sales and networking capabilities as levers of internationalization – and less on
upstream capabilities, such as manufacturing and auxiliary service competencies. Likewise the
situation in other emerging markets many Vietnamese firms are inserted in global value chains
(GVCs) governed by multinational buyers. For these firms, manufacturing skills may be of equal
- or greater - importance to export performance than the mastering of marketing & sales and
networking in foreign markets.
The thesis presents various theoretical perspectives on firms’ internationalization – perspectives
that vary in terms of their focus on either upstream or downstream activities (or, the
interrelationship of these two types of activities). The thesis tries to fill out the knowledge gap as
to which of these theoretical perspectives fit best the trajectories of Vietnamese manufacturing
firms involved in exports. In doing so, the thesis also draws on GVC models, entrepreneurial
literature, and studies of economic as well as strategic export performance.
Unique survey data covering 226 Vietnamese manufacturers involved in exporting was collected
through face-to-face interviews conducted in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. On the basis of these
data a set of hypotheses is tested using structural equation modelling as a statistical tool. The
empirical study suggests that Vietnamese firms create international competitiveness in relation to
both upstream and downstream activities. Furthermore, the study suggests that upstream
competitiveness of the sample firms is significantly more attractive in terms of economic export
performance (export sales, profitability and growth) than downstream competitiveness. However,
when export performance is measured in more far-sighted, strategic terms, there are no significant
differences between the two dimensions of competitiveness. The study also reveals some interesting industry differences: for firms in the “low-tech” textiles & garments industry,
upstream competitiveness has greater impact on economic export performance than downstream
competitiveness. Conversely, downstream competitiveness results in a higher economic return
than upstream competitiveness for firms from the “high-tech” industries of electronics and
mechanical manufactures
In the last part of the thesis, theoretical, empirical, and managerial implications are discussed
along with conclusions and suggestions for future research.

This dissertation consists of an introductory chapter, followed by four papers that approach the
topic of internationalization of small economies and the multinational firm from different angles.
The concluding chapter deals with what happened in Iceland after the crisis that started in
October 2008 with the collapse of the Icelandic financial system and how the very fast
internationalization of Icelandic firms was possible, but only as further issues that need to be
researched. Each of the papers can be read individually as well as in the larger context of this
dissertation.

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This Ph.D. dissertation investigates some International Business (IB) issues, which emerge
from a specific context of research. The study takes inspiration from one of the most
currently debated phenomena in IB literature, i.e. the internationalization of Emerging Market
(EM) firms. The recent global emergence of these firms is substantial and particularly
interesting under several points of view, especially because the IB literature has traditionally
been dominated by western-centric theories, whose applicability to the case of EM firms
might be questionable.
The present Ph.D. thesis recommends an approach to the study of the internationalization of
EM firms that can contribute to the advancement of IB literature in general. This is illustrated
by the four research articles of the thesis, where a single-country EM context is used to draw
general implications useful for researchers, practitioners and policy makers.
More in details, the first paper “Emerging market firms’ acquisitions in advanced markets:
Matching strategy with resource-, institution- and industry-based antecedents” studies the
antecedents that can affect the motivations for the acquisitions that EM firms undertake in
advanced markets. The second article, entitled “Time to internationalization and evolving
institutions: An event history analysis of Indian firms”, analyzes domestic firms’ earlier
versus later internationalization, during a period of radical institutional changes. The third
paper, “The role of Overseas National Ownership in Outward FDI: A study of the Indian
diaspora”, studies how the presence of overseas national shareholders can influence
homeland firms' outward FDI. Finally, the last article is entitled "Business groups’
internationalization: The role of the domestic geographical scope" and analyzes one possible
explanation for business groups’ internationalization, from an organizational learning
perspective. The Ph.D. thesis is empirically based on a very comprehensive sample of Indian firms. The
data are collected from different sources, i.e. the Prowess database, the Zephyr database, the
Indian Census and the World Competitiveness Yearbook. The potential value of this singlecountry
context perspective is highlighted throughout the Ph.D. thesis, and clearly emerges
while I address the different issues of the four research articles.

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The aim of this study is elaborating the current understanding of a relatively new phenomenon: the
internationalization process of digital service providers. It deploys a multiple case study
methodology. Based on the case analyses and the discovery of new insights this study proposes a
conceptual framework attempting at elaborating existing International Business theory.
The analytical process of this study begins with explaining its context and developing definitions
that are necessary for the purpose of data collection and case construction. Next, selected
International Business theories and concepts are reviewed and contextualized propositions are
developed. Following a detailed presentation of the case studies, the propositions are analyzed
through per-case analyses. This analysis is coupled with a theory development exercise (which is
presented in subsequent distinct sections). Here, unique findings of each case are analyzed in
sequential per-case analyses in order to identify emerging patterns. Rudimentary concepts, which
are grounded in the case findings, are proposed through the cross case analysis. In addition, the
analysis of the propositions is summarized at this stage. Subsequently, a conceptual framework is
proposed. To provide foundations for the framework, the proposed constructs are defined and
explored more deeply, also through collecting additional data and integrating additional external
literature. The conceptual framework is presented in the form of testable hypotheses. Finally,
implications for International Business theory are drawn from the analyses and the conceptual
framework.